Max Amount of Epmp 2000 for tower

Hello I need to know how many AP's running epmp can I put on the same tower to have the maximun users capacity for tower using cambium products like epmp 2000 and epmp elevate.

Im new on cambium so sorry if this question is stupid.

That question has a lot of variables. Channel width etc.

Firstly let’s start out by saying, welcome to Cambium. It’s great here.

Next, the Cambium epmp works very differently from wifi driven radios. You’ll see a much higher concentration of cpes per AP running smoothly than your used to seeing, for example, I’ve got some 2.4 GHz APs in 10mhz channels with 40+ subs on them, I need to split them down, BUT the customers experience remains good, and actual traffic flow can hold 35 mbps through peak. Latency is kept together and ping times don’t go crazy like wifi driven access networks.

Next is GPS sync, you get to re-use your channels so you can have double the APs and not use anymore spectrum. So in 20mhz channels, you can get as much as 100mbps, real world, that is very achievable in some areas. So with 4 APs, you’d use 45 MHz of spectrum, and have 400 Mbps of bandwidth available. Or double your channels and double your bandwidth and consumption. Remember to leave 5mhz of space between channels (front to back can use the same channel, no space). So you can stack as many APs as you want per tower, synced with no problem as long as you have channel space. As far as users, just watch your frame utilization on the APs, and when you start seeing your utilization hitting 70%, make plans to add more edge access. And if it hits upper 90s, it’s full. But don’t worry, your customers won’t kill you right away, the cambium product keeps it smooth and only reduces speeds as it needs to, and does it evenly. An example, let’s say your clients are demanding 150 Mbps, and you’ve got 120 available. And your using 10mbps plans, with 15 people making that demand. Each of those subs will still see smooth pings, just a little higher than normal (10 to 30ms higher) and get 12 Mbps. Most of the time, they won’t see it and you’ll have time to add capacity without the headaches you’d get from wifi based networks.


As far as customers per AP, the limit is 60 in 10mhz, and 120 in 20/40 MHz channels. I’d suggest half of that for most cases.

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We are glad to have you here. What types of customers are you connecting (business or residential?)

Can you post a photo of your equipment?

Welcome to the community! There are many awesome members here, like Chris above, who are extremely helpful. There are no stupid questions. So ask away! 

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Thanks you for your time.
I’m researching about epmp and looks amazing on papers. I need to know how many ap can be put on a same tower based on your experience, I have never use calcium but if this really works I will give a try.

Hello and thanks for your time. Actually I don’t have the product, we are so research about it. I want to deploy a wisp in a suburban area.

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You will want to check out the WISPER case study HERE. Or replay the webinar of Wireless ISPs sharintg their experiences HERE.

Of course, there are many network operators here like  Chris. 

Like Chris said, there are a lot of variables involved. In ideal conditions, you can run two AP's per channel. Using proper network design and GPS sync, getting 8 or even 12 APs on one tower should be relatively easy, and should support 300+ customers without an issue. If you are planning to run that many APs on a single tower, I would suggest looking at the RF Elements horn antennas - they have very good characterstics for channel re-use, and they make a 30 degree model, which would work out perfectly for running 12 APs.

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Maybe the number of APs on a single tower should be a Friday Fun topic...what do you think?


@Cambium_RayS wrote:

Maybe the number of APs on a single tower should be a Friday Fun topic...what do you think?


Definitely!

 

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Thanks you to all to share your experience. This forum have quality members.

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Perfect topic for this Friday

Is possible use the symmetrical horn with epmp 2000?

yes it will work, you can use any antenna in the 5ghz band with these radios as long as you've got the right antenna leads. 

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Yes, but last I checked, RF Elements didn't have a twistport adapter out for the ePMP 2000 yet, so you would have to go with the more expensive version with N connectors.

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@Mathew Howard wrote:

... I would suggest looking at the RF Elements horn antennas - they have very good characterstics for channel re-use, and they make a 30 degree model, which would work out perfectly for running 12 APs.


Using something like the RFE 30 horn, would it be feasible to re-use channels more than twice?  eg, 12 units using ABCABC channels in a 360 pattern?  Or even ABAB...?

You’d have to use 6 channels to use 12 horns unless the FTB is so high that the back horn is below floor,. The front and back notation is needed for re-use. Can’t run multiple same channel fronts or backs on the same tower without issues. A front AP can hear any number of Back APs and be fine, or visa versa. But it can’t hear loudly any co-channel like setting front or back. (I’d love to be wrong about this)

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Sorry Chris. You are right. You can’t have adjacent APs running the same channel.

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Some one could help in microPOP design ?

I would esentially use a ePMP 2000 AP with an omni antenna. Cause to smal cell radius (about 300 meters), I would like to know how to configure GPS syncing to avoid near AP interference.

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@telecomunicazio wrote:

Some one could help in microPOP design ?

I would esentially use a ePMP 2000 AP with an omni antenna. Cause to smal cell radius (about 300 meters), I would like to know how to configure GPS syncing to avoid near AP interference.


Ideally, just use different channels on all the APs that can hear eachother, with a 5mhz gaurd band between each one and make sure the scheduler and distance settings match on all the APs. If you want to re-use channels on APs that can see eachother, that can be done, but it gets a little more complex. 

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